The business is booming in China as women who no longer want to make love are picking up the sex toy to satisfy their ageing partners.

This is one of the factors that is behind a surge in sales in Xi'an, China, which has 2,000 sex shops, it is claimed.

Feng, a sex shop owner, said his shop used to sell 100 blow up dolls when they first arrived in the city in 1998 - now they are selling more than 1,000, reports China's People's Daily Online.

His estimates the region is selling 10,000 a year and said the trend is reflected in other cities.

Dolled up: A Chinese man who bought an inflatable doll for company (Image: EuroPics[CEN])

Top draw: A high calibre of sex doll is now available for the discerning gent

He said: "People are repressed about sex. They think sex is ugly and don't want to discuss it.

"They especially don't want to discuss their own sex life with others."

A man in his sixties, called Zhang, said that when his wife reached 50 she no longer wanted a passionate sex life, so she bought him a doll but initially he struggled with feelings of guilt and regret.